Orbit Racing/BAM! final report

race final
Orbit Racing, in partnership with BAM! (British American Motorsport), had
an early out from the 24 Heures du Mans. The team was in contention for
the GT class win, but a mechanical failure dropped them out of the
24-hour...

race final

Orbit Racing, in partnership with BAM! (British American Motorsport), had
an early out from the 24 Heures du Mans. The team was in contention for
the GT class win, but a mechanical failure dropped them out of the
24-hour race.

During the third quarter of the race, Mike Rockenfeller moved up to
second in the GT class and lapped the 13.65-km circuit faster than the
class race record. (His fellow Porsche factory driver Sascha Maassen also
zapped the record, a fraction of a second faster.) Rockenfeller completed
his triple stint at 14h49 and handed the No. 87 YES Network Porsche 911
GT3 RSR to Marc Lieb, who regained a lost lap and took aim at the class
victory. His efforts were stopped by a transmission failure at 16h29.

Leo Hindery, Jr. (driver)

"If it was a 12-hour race, we just finished second, but it's a 24-hour
race and we didn't. But you can't ever feel bad about a second-place run;
it's a compliment to the team. People today saw some of the finest
driving they'll ever see in Mike and Marc, they saw one of the
best-prepared cars they'll ever see and they saw a team that respects the
sport and loves Le Mans and this race. BAM! will be back and you'll see
Mike and Marc on the podium, I promise."

Peter Baron (BAM! owner, business director)

"I'm sad for the whole team and everybody associated with us. Everybody
did their personal best and should be proud of their effort. As the sun
comes up, you think most of that stuff is over and if it lasted 18 hours,
it's good to go the distance. Unfortunately, we were caught out by
gearbox problems. I just feel bad about all the hard work everybody put
in from the crew and drivers, to have it end like this ..."

Tim Munday (BAM! technical director)

We came, we saw, we didn't conquer. It's one of those mechanical
failures, you can't help it. All brand-new parts, the best preparation
in the world, things break. That's the way this sport goes.
Unfortunately for us, the Le Mans rules for this year have changed:
You are no longer allowed to change the gearbox during the race, only
repair the internal parts and retain the original casing. This repair
would have taken at least four to five hours and may not have even been
possible if the casing was damaged. With the high speeds at Le Mans
(nearly 200 miles per hour), a poor repair to the gearbox could lead to
a failure and a very large accident, and is therefore a high-risk thing
to do."